Just embarked upon my first Traveller experience with 2e and am busy acquiring books to read. The core rule book mentions a companion but this isn't in the release schedule unless I've missed something.

As a new GM in the reading do the Third imperium books contain mainly source or a lot of 1st edition rules?
If the latter is there a guide to using /converting ships/characters etc... to 2e or is it obvious if I see the stat lines?
(FYI I haven't seen any other books apart from the new 2e ones)

I don't believe there is a companion on the horizon. Honestly, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being a compilation of rules from various sets.

I own 1e, while my dad owns 2e, and I can tell you that the two editions are 90% cross compatible. I'm currently sticking with 1e because I like some of it's quirks and don't get some of the 2e design decisions (Reaction Drives really take up more space than reactionless drives? no actual reason to ever pick the 'standard' hull option?), but in general if it doesn't relate to ships or weapon ranges it can be used with either edition, so the Third Imperium books should be fine. MgT isn't like D&D where the rules change significantly with each edition, 2e is more about refinement and bringing everything in line with the official Third Imperium.

With converting characters, it's generally easy as the only difference to the statline is the removal of certain skills (mainly those where you'll only check if you have it instead of actually rolling it). I think there's been some changes to the Career tables, but not enough that a directly converted 1e character would break. Just make common sense adjustments, like moving ranks in Zero-g to Vacc Suit or Pilot: Small Craft.

Converting ships is a bit harder, but not impossible if you have the rules. 1e used a set of 24 lettered classes (cross reference with class for performance) for drives and power plants with nonlinear tonnage and cost, which means you just see what thrust and jump they give and buy those drives (you can adjust cargo space to fit). For the rest you likely don't need to go in and fiddle with the numbers unless the PCs are going to get ahold of one, and all the equipment translates relatively well.

The things that don't really convert at all are generally things that were presented as alternatives in home games, like fission and antimatter power plants (work completely differently in 2e) or warp drive (2e's is essentially the hyperdrive rules, 1e was closer to Star Trek or the Progressive Wormhole Generators from Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga). The chances of seeing these used in an actual book are essentially none, the ones that didn't use the standard assumptions (like 2300AD) would supply their own rules.

Edit: Actualy I am a bit confused about the timing of this announcement. From the blog post apparently dated in January 2017:

The Traveller Companion
Despite being mentioned in the Core Rulebook, the Companion did not appear in 2017 – we are taking steps to rectify that right now!

So, what is the Traveller Companion?

Well, a good description would be all the material that did not make it into the core books released thus far. Its chapter structure mimics that of the Core Rulebook, with different or additional takes on each – for example, in the character creation chapter, there are new pre-career options alongside new ways to create characters that do not use the career system. In the Encounters chapter, you will find new hazards and additional traits for animals, while the Spacecraft Operations chapter includes, among other things, what happens when a ship strays a bit too close to a black hole…

It is basically a repository for every whacky idea the designers ever had, along with a good dollop of material that has been put together from comments made by players on various Traveller forums. We are still adding ideas into the mix (‘say, wouldn’t it be whiz-o-whiz if we added rules for T Tauri stars?’), and the end result will be a massive toolkit for referees to plough through, picking and choosing what they want to use for their own, unique campaigns.

Expect the Traveller Companion during the summer, and as a full colour hardback in autumn.

Just embarked upon my first Traveller experience with 2e and am busy acquiring books to read. The core rule book mentions a companion but this isn't in the release schedule unless I've missed something.

As a new GM in the reading do the Third imperium books contain mainly source or a lot of 1st edition rules?
If the latter is there a guide to using /converting ships/characters etc... to 2e or is it obvious if I see the stat lines?
(FYI I haven't seen any other books apart from the new 2e ones)

Thanks

Glennister

The Alien Module books for Mongoose 1e are 95% source books, and the rest is chargen which is still pretty close to 2e chargen. The Library Data book is all source book stuff about the 3rd Imperium. Any 1e books that have combat rules or ship/vehicle construction rules will not work with Mongoose 2e, of course.